Page 73 of Fight
Sawyer smiles as he gives him all the codes, and I think we all know that if he wanted to, he could’ve hacked them. Sawyer frowns as he says, “He first messaged her about a week ago.”
“Great, thanks. I’ll go back a couple of days before then, just in case,” he starts to type away on his laptop and then looks up at the rest of us, “Do you guys want me to put this on the screen so that you can all see?”
Rome and I share a look as Rome replies, “No man, we’ve learned that it’s a lot quicker if we just leave you to it, and then you can tell us if you’ve found anything.”
Ace’s smile widens, “Thanks, guys.”
While he’s working, we catch up with the others, and it strikes me how unique their living situation really is, and seeing them in such a relaxed environment really shows me that they’re as much a family as we are, and that’s why they work so well together and why we get on with them so well, we understand them.
Eventually, the guys get bored and end up starting some sort of fighting tournament on the game's console that has them all yelling and cursing at each other. I glance over at Ace, worried that it might be distracting him, but he’s so focused on what he’s doing that I don’t even think that he’s noticed that the guys have suddenly gotten louder.
Since they’re all distracted, I move over to sit near Harley, who's smiling at the antics the others are all getting up to, “How are you really?”
She glances at me, “I know it’s’ probably bad, but I already feel relieved.”
“That’s understandable,” I reply.
“I know we weren’t there for very long, but I could tell that you were dealing with some shit. Please don’t feel like I’m prying. I’m not, just hoping that you got it all sorted?”
I pause for a second before realising that I really do trust her and all of the guys one hundred percent, which is why I reply, “You have no fucking idea.”
I then proceed to tell her all about my grandmother and Gerald, and her eyes get wider the longer that I talk. Of course, I don’t share anything about the guys and anything that was connected to them because, at the end of the day, it’s not my place.
“Fucking hell, that’s wild,” she exclaims and then starts to share more about her past and what happened with Harrison. The more she talks, the more obvious it becomes that, like me, she was made for this kind of life. She loves it.
It’s a couple of hours of us talking and the guys messing around before my stomach growls loudly, and we decide to make lunch, and by that I mean Fox and Dax go into the kitchen, and soon amazing smells are wafting out, Ace is so engrossed in what he’s doing though, that even that can’t bring him out of his laptop, and when the food gets placed next to him it goes completely unnoticed.
“Should we tell him he’s got food?” Sawyer questions.
“There’s no point when he’s this focused, he won’t hear us anyway, and it might break his rhythm or whatever it is that he likes to call it,” Rip explains.
Only Ridge nods like he understands what Rip is talking about as he replies, “I get that. When I dive into accounts looking for discrepancies and all of that kind of stuff, I can be lost for hours and not even realise it.”
“You’re probably one of the only people that understands that,” Asher points out with a smile.
“This food is delicious,” I interrupt, staring woefully at my empty bowl.
Dax chuckles, “Thanks. We can teach you how to make it if you’d like?”
“Yes, please, we’re novice cooks at best, but we want to get better,” I reply.
“Just tell me when,” Dax replies.
I’m about to thank him when Ace’s head suddenly pops his head up, sniffs, and then his eyes zone in on his food as he starts eating. The whole scenario is quite amusing, and I’m not the only one who thinks so, as several of the others start laughing too.
“What?” he asks, completely oblivious around a mouth of food.
“Nothing, dude,” Rome replies with affection and then adds, “I take it you’ve finished?”
“Yeah, so I’ve been through everything, and I can’t find any sign of him, which is good. You’ve got a good setup here, so I doubt that he’s managed to sneak through somewhere.” Ace explains.
“Good. Hopefully, we can get to him before that changes.” Rip replies thoughtfully.
“Let me just finish this, and then we can go stake out where he’s staying,” Ace adds, shoving more food in his mouth and only having a few bites left anyway.
“Alright, dude,” Rip replies since he’s the one coming with us.
“Are you all going?” Asher asks with a slight frown.